Prayer of Confession: Katheryn Shanks

Prayer of Confession: Katheryn Shanks

On Sunday, February 18, Katheryn Shanks prayed a Prayer of Confession as part of our Sunday Meeting. The text of her prayer is below. We hope that her words continue to inspire and convict you this week.

We stand before You, O God, unworthy and yet deeply thankful. We thank and bless You that your holy law has been fulfilled in Christ Jesus—

wrath appeased,death destroyed,sin forgiven,my soul saved.

And yet, we have relied for acceptance upon our own knowledge, experience, and good deeds. Sometimes we have tried to add to the work Christ Jesus did when He drank dry the cup of Your wrath—every last drop. Instead of trying to add to His completed work, may our cry be always,

“Only Jesus! Only Jesus!”

In Him we know true freedom from condemnation. We find fullness in his righteousness, and the purest fellowship in union with him; When we backslide, let us like Peter weep bitterly and then return to him. When we are weak, may we collapse upon his eternal love. When we find ourselves in extreme circumstances or danger, remind us that that our deliverer is the One who welcomes us into the refuge of His arms. When we are driven to the verge of hopelessness and despair, grant us the grace to call upon the precious name of Jesus.

We have sinned more times than anyone can count, and we are guilty of pride and unbelief, guilty of failing to search the Scriptures to know Your mind, and guilty of disobeying You in our daily walk.

Our transgressions and shortcomings present us with a list of accusations, but we bless You that all of them—every last one—have been laid on Christ. And You have given us His righteousness.

Purge us, gracious Father, from every false desire, every base aspiration, everything contrary to Your rule. We know that we often try to do your work without your power, and that’s when we sin by our dead, heartless, blind service. We sin by our lack of love in our actions, our lack of delight in Your word, our independence of mind— all because we fail to lean upon your empowering grace.

You show your power by our frailty, so that the feebler we are, the more fit we are to be useful to You, for You pitch a tent of grace in our weakness.

Forgive us when we fail to acknowledge our failures before others.

For it’s when we confess our sins and shortcomings that others may see more clearly your redeeming power and glory.

HEAVENLY FATHER, hear our cry!

We pant and pine to be like You; we are Your children! Enable us to recognize sin’s cunning call—when it tempts us, may we be deaf to its voice.

Deliver us from its cruel tyranny and sly accusations.

Oh, Lord! In our best moments, we desire what You desire— to be devoted, confident, obedient, content, childlike.